A swimming pool and/or hot tub is often at the forefront of many dream homes of Americans, and are popular in countless homes and communities all over the world. They provide cool and relaxing places for individuals to de-stress and unwind, and are a delight in the summertime. Unfortunately, much to the dismay of many pool owners, pool maintenance is not usually a fun task. Keeping a swimming pool or hot tub requires weekly (occasionally biweekly) water testing, pump and filter maintenance, water skimming, chemical mixing, and adding acids, chlorine and other chemicals to the water. Without maintenance such as this, pools can quickly become unsanitary and even unsafe for swimmers. Algae build up can quickly overtake a pool in warm climates, causing the owner to ‘shock’ and clean the pool over a period of time. This often requires timely addition of chemicals, which can easily be forgotten. Without consistent maintenance, pools can quickly become unusable. To some, the maintenance is cumbersome and droll, and therefore, the pool can become neglected, and the maintenance duty schedule forgotten.
Even more, there is a need for a convenient and more accurate pool or hot tub monitor than is currently on the market. For example, unless various readings can be interpolated to give an overall picture of that which is taking place in a pool or hot tub, the single readings alone might not trip an alert that something is awry in a pool or hot tub. In other words, there is a need for a pool or hot tub monitor that can piece readings together to alert when a few readings might not cause alarm if they are not correlated together.
Thus, there is a need for a smart pool maintenance device and system configured to interface with the mobile, or other internet-connected devices of the user, and alert him or her with real-time data relating to the overall quality of the water and proximal environmental conditions. Such a device would preferably have a buoy component configured to float in the swimming pool water, and a gateway component. The buoy is equipped with sensors to attain pool environmental data, and convey the data wirelessly via wireless radio technology, to the gateway unit. The data is stored on cloud-based servers in communication with the internet, providing for easy access to the data from any internet enabled device. Such a device will promote and safeguard the healthy and safe use of swimming pools and spas.